diff --git a/Lib/test/test_sys.py b/Lib/test/test_sys.py
index a6d926f..b7ddbe9 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_sys.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_sys.py
@@ -197,9 +197,10 @@
         self.assertEqual(sys.getrecursionlimit(), 10000)
         sys.setrecursionlimit(oldlimit)
 
-    @unittest.skipIf(hasattr(sys, 'gettrace') and sys.gettrace(),
-                     'fatal error if run with a trace function')
     def test_recursionlimit_recovery(self):
+        if hasattr(sys, 'gettrace') and sys.gettrace():
+            self.skipTest('fatal error if run with a trace function')
+
         # NOTE: this test is slightly fragile in that it depends on the current
         # recursion count when executing the test being low enough so as to
         # trigger the recursion recovery detection in the _Py_MakeEndRecCheck